Drier



H. J. ERNST Oct. 29, 1929.

DRIER Filed Oct. 18, 1927 4 She'etS-Sheet l INVENTOR. 3 BY Oqt. 29,1929.

H. J. ERNST 1,733,785

' DRIER Filed Oct. 18, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 5s 5] Zl 4 A TTORNEYb' H.J. ERNST Oct. 29, 1929.

DRIER Filed Oct. 18. 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

A TTORNEYS Oct. 29,'l929. ERNST 1,733,785

' DRIER Filed 0012. 18, 1927 4 Sheets-Sheet ,4

Fatented Get. 29, 1929 HEN-RY J. ERNST, OFv NEWPORT, KENTUCKY DRIERApplication filed October 18, 1927. Serial N0..226,982.

My invention relates to drying apparatus and particularly to a noveltype of drying apparatusfor blankets and other cloth fabrics in sheetswhich combines a stretching operation with the drying operation.

It is my object to provide a dry house having controlled air currents,and to have a carriage on which drying and stretching apparatus will bemounted, which can be automatically inserted and withdrawn from the dryhouse, It is an object to provide drying and stretching apparatus whichwill convey the sheet of material to be dried into an arch-likeformation which will expose it efficiently to the drying air currents.

It is furthermy object to provide mechanism which will be operableconjointly with the mechanism which conveys the sheet into an arch-likeformation, and p which I, will 29 stretch the sheet being dried in thedirection both of its length and breadth.

Broadly, it is my object to provide an improved drier for blankets,particularly woolen blankets, which will materially cut down thenecessary drying time, and-which will also lessen the likelihood-ofdamagingthe blankets during the drying and stretching operation. Ifurther have as an object the provision of a feeding device which willfeed the blankets onto a carding rope which engages the edges of theblankets, thereby sparing the hands of the feeder operators from beingscratched by the card rope.

The above and other objects to which reference will be made during theensuing disclosure I accomplish by that certain arrange-1 ment andcombination of parts of which I have shown a preferred embodiment.

In the drawings V Figure 1 is a front elevation of the interior of thedrying mechanism with the obstructing front wall of the dry housenotshown.

Figure 2 is an end elevation of'the drying mechanism showing the dryhouse walls in sectionl a V i a Figure 3 is a sectional View takenalong'the lines 8-3 in Figure 1. V, r

Figured is a horizontal sectional View of the cardingrope taken alongthe lines inFigure3. f I

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the bottom part of stretchingmechanism shown in Figure 3. r

Figure 6 is a sectional view of the base of the stretching mechanism asit would appear from the position indicated by the lines 6-6 in Figures3 and 5.

Figure 7 is an enlarged view-of the gear shifting'mechanism forinserting and with drawing the drying mechanism from the dry '60 house.V

Figure 8 is a view of'the parts shown in Figure 7 as they would appearfrom the position indicated by the lines 8-'8 in Figure 7 Figure 9 is aperspective view of the telescoping reels over which the sheet offlexible material is drawn by the'carding ropes. I

Figure .10 is an end elevation of the sheet tensioning mechanism whichmakes the hand feeding of the sheets'onto the drying mechanismunnecessary. l f

Figure 11 is aside elevation of the tension ing mechanism shown inFigure 10.

Generally indicated at 1 in Figure .1 is the dry house which may be ofpreferred con struction, being usually made of sheet iron. The topportion of the dry house is formed so as to make a slanting air duct 2through which the exhausted drying air is drawn to a blower 3. Theblower is run by a belt 4 '8 from a motor 5 which alsodrives the intakeair blower 6. The intake air blower has an intake pipe 7 from somesource of 'airand a delivery conduit 8 in which I have shown heatingcoils 9. The conduit 8 has a series of diverting panels 10, 11 and 12,whichsub divide the air into three or 'more distinct channels. Pivotedshutters 10 11 and12. extend into the path of the incoming ;air. Theshutters'are held open whenthe drier is in the house by extensions 10",11 and 12 The extensions are extended fromthe drying j rack and movewith it.- As soon asthe drying rack is moved out of the house theextensions 10, ll and 12 move ing the shutters 10 11 -and-12 open, andthe shutters are blown shut. By varying the length of the extensions10*, 11? and 12" the shutter 1O may be closed firs't,'11 next, I and15251'ast,.so thatwhen the drying rack 1% out of positions'holdmoves thelength of the extensions '10", 11

' reach}. The particular construction of the currents of heated airshould be forced in at the bottom and pass upthrough and-around 15dryingsystem may be changed in accordance I with particularrequirements, it being my idea to show only onecombmation'which Wlll befound to operate satisfactorily. The

the drier and there be exhausted. In some instances it may be preferablenot to provide a freshantake of air for the bloweiybut to merelycirculate the air aroundin a circuit such. as'I have diagrammaticallydescribed.

' The drying apparatus is mounted on frame members'16 whichhavesupporting casters 17 at the front and back which ride on rails 18."I; have provided a mechanical drive for inserting andwithdrawing thedrying app aratusfromthe'dry house. TA large cog wheelxl9 is mounted ona shaft 20 which extends across the frame 21 on whichthe dryingmechanism is mounted. The shaft 20 has apair of bevel gears 22 slidablymounted thereon with keys. Eachbevel gear-has a shifting fork 23 whichmoves the bevel gear into engagement with the bevelpinion 24 carried onthe main drive i shaft 25whichis driven by aworm gear'26which'enga'ges'theipinion. 27 on a motor 28 1 mounted at the top ofthedrying' mechanism framework. The shifting forks 23 which are pivotedon shafts 23 have r0llers29 mounted at their ends'which are engaged atthe inner and: outer limits of movementof the drying mechanism by lugs30 having slanting engagement surfaces. The object ofsuch anarrangementwill be obvious. When the operator pulls,for example, onalshifter handle 31 mounted 011a shaft :23. the drying apparatus will bemovedinto or outof the house. It is important that the drying apparatusshould be stopped when'it is completely in :or completely withdrawn fromthe dry house. The weightofa roller 29 is suflicient to'hold in the.clutch until :such: time as the roller is elevated 'by theinclineddugatthe end of the limit of movement of the drying apparatus.

With the ordinary racktypedrier in which adryingrackis handpulled andpushed into and out of a dry house,-frequent damage to 'both the rack:and dryhouse is done by a careless operator whoslams in the'rackwithout regard tothe damage which may be done. By providing amechanically controlled movement which isautomatically shutoff at the.ends .ofpmovement of the dryingapparatus all tendencyto damage thedrying'apparatus isavoided. 'It'will be obvious from reference tothedrawings,; particularly Figure .7, that' one. of the shifting handles:31

will set the mechanism in operation for moving'the drying apparatus intothe dry house and the other will set the apparatus in operation forwithdrawing the drier. The par- 7 ticular shifting devices indicated aremerely representations of how the driving mechamsm can be controlled.Dliferent arrangements within the knowledge of a skilled mepair oftelescoping reelsyo'ne of which is an 7 upper reel 32 mounted with a keyon. a shaft 33 extending longitudinally from one end of the mechanismframe to the other, the shaft beingjournaled as indicated at 34,35 andl'lZLV'. ing the front end of the shaft 33 carryingv a bevel gear 36.The lower reel 37 is. mounted on a shaft 38 in vertical alignment withthe shaft 33, and'the shaft 38 has an end 39, extended .at one end onwhich isimounted a bevel gear 40. The bevel gears 40 and 36 always movein the same direction being driven by the pinions 41, 42, which aremounted on the vertical shaft 43. Theshaft 43 is driven in clockwise-orcounterclockwise direction by meansof a pair of bevel gears 44, 45, thebevels of which face one another. :The .gears 44, 45, are carried on asleeve 46 mounted on theshaft 25. A shiftingrod 47. moves either one orthe other ofigthe bevel gearsinto engagement with a bevel :gear 48 which5 is mounted on a countershaft. 49 which. drives the shaft 43-by meansofthe pinion 41;

Extendingin-toothed pulleys 50 in the end hubs forming the reels are thetwo continuous bands of carding rope 51 vWhiehLare preferably backedwbythe flexible band of metal 52. The band of'metal and the cardingrope-may be held together by-fa series of metal clips such as-areindicated at 53. The edges of themetal outwardly by the screws,'-theoperation of I which ;will behereinafter described. The outeredges ofthe plates have attached thereto the guard plates 59,,v 60, whichkeepthe carding rope assembly properly aligned.

Flanged portions"6l, 62, extend about the carding rope assembly to guideit properly.

'Thenuts 57,58, are engaged by the screwthreaded portions of the shafts63. 64, which V extend through the side of the. frame and are providedwith thrust bearingsas indicated at. 65,66. The outer ends of the shaftsweaves has been drawn over the upper reel the end may be fixed and somefurther stretching of the blanket longitudinally may be obtainedbyfurther movement of the shaft 33.

Forfeeding a blanket to the stretching device I have provided the screen78 which may be pulled out when the drier is withdrawn from the dryhouse and the moist blanket or sheet disposed on it. Extending acrossbetween aligned positions on the continuous bands of carding rope I haveshown the starting strip 79 which is of carding rope mounted on a metalbar 80 which is guided in curved guide plates at the front end of theassembly so that should a narrow blanket be dried the strain on theouter end of the bar will not be so great as to cause it to bend out ofshape.

Supposing that the drier is withdrawn from the dry house and theoperators are placing a blanket on the drier, the first operation is towithdraw the screen 78 and fold up the wet blanket or sheet of materialon it. The operators first extend their hands through the tensioningdevice and mount the front edge of the blanket on the starting strip 79. The starting strip 79 is fixed at its inner end and slidably retainedin a clip 7 9 which is attached to the outer one of the carding ropeassemblies. The lever 47 is then shifted and the blanket will be fedfromthe starting position up over the top reel the distance which it will bedrawn on the return bend on the other side of the upper reel being dependent on the length of the blanket. When the end of the blanket hasbeen reached the two operators take the end of the blanket and fix it onthe fixed band 77. The lever 72 is then shifted and the outer cardingrope assembly is pulled away from the inner fixed assembly sufiicientlytostretch the blanket tight. While the lateral stretching is beingcarried on a further slight stretch may be given to the blanket bycontinuing the feeding movement of the shafts 33, and 38. v

The tensioning device which I believe to .be entirely new is composed ofa pair of brackets secured to the frame of the drier which carry therollers 81 and a pair of friction plates. The sheet is fed between therollers 81 and the carding rope assembly. The rollers 81 are mounted oncurved arms 82 which are connected with friction plates 83.

r The plates 83 are pivotally mounted as indibal means I at cated atseen the bosses 85 extended from fixed friction plates 86. The ends ofthe plates 83 have extensions carrying handles 87. Springs 88 mounted onstuds 89 extend ing through the plates 86 tend to keep the extensions ofthe plates 83 pressed away from thevplates86 so that the frictionsurfaces of the-plates 83 willbeip'ressed against the plates 8b. Theftensioning devices are arranged at an angle to the carding ropeassembly so that when the operator presses down against thehandles 87the rollers 81 are moved away from the carding rope assemblies, and atthe same time the friction surfaces of the plates are moved apart sothata blanket may be either-inserted or withdrawn withoutdilficulty.'-- pHaving thusfdescribed my-invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is 2- H 1. A carriage for cooperation with adrier chamber, said carriagehaving thereon means for mechanicallyconveying a sheet into an arch-like formatiomsaid carriage also havingthereon mechanical means for stretching the sheet laterally operativelyconnected with said first :mentioned mechanical means, and mechanicalmeans for moving said carriag into and from said drier chamber.

2. A carriage for'cooperation with a drier chamber, said carriage having:thereon means for -mechanically conveying a sheet into anarch-likeformation, said carriage also having thereon mechanical meansfor stretching the sheet laterally *operatively connected with saidfirst'ment'ioned mechanical means, and mechanicalmeans for moving saidcarriage into and from said drier chamber, and stops being provided toinhibit the operation of said last named mechanical means at the end ofitslimits of movement; 3. The comb'in'ation in a drier for sheetmaterial of the type having a dryhouse and a drying rack for holding asheet of fabric I in an arch-like formationzopening downward so as toexpose the inner surface thereof to circulating air currents, ofblowermechanism for forcing air into the bottom and out of the top of thehouse, mechanical means for inserting and'withdr'ai'viiig said rack fromsaid dry house, and meansfor stopping said mechani- V predeterminedlimits of its movement.

air currents ina dry house, said dryingrack provided with meansfor-mechanically conveying a sheet of fabricinto an arch-likeformationfthereon, and a tensioning device'for feedinga sheet of fabriconto saidfrack during the 'mechanical ;convleyingthereof, saidtensioning fdevicecomprising apair of rollerls adapte'd' to engage, the"ends of the sheet 4. A drying rack for holding a sheet of fabric inan=arch like formation so as to expose the inner. surface thereof tocirculating ieo and 'friction plates through whichlthe sheet will bedrawn. v I

5. A drying rack for holding 'asheet of fabric in an arch-likeformationso as'to expose'the inner surface thereof to circulating aircurrents 1n a dry'house, said drying rack provided with means formechanically conveying a sheet of' fabric into, anvarch-like formationthereon, said conveying means comprisingendless belts having cardingrope thereon for engagingedges of asheetvto'be dried. ,7 i

6. In combination with a drying chamber, a frame movable into and outofsaid chamber, supporting and driving means on the frame, a pair ofbelts on said means provided with pro ections to which asheet ofmaterial will adhere, one of's'aidzbelts havingits supporting anddriving "means: movable bodily laterally with relation to the other tostretch I said frame, and connections therefrom to op v erate saiddrivlng means, and aframe moving mechanism also having connections tothe frame to move it into and out of the-chamber, 8. In a drying rack,the combination with a frame, of arotating element having a surface towhich a sheet of material will adhere, and means for rotating saidelement, and devices for'placing tension'on asheet of material as it isdrawnover said rotating element, a motor for said rack and connectionstherefrom to operate said driving means, a pro pelling device for saidrack and connections from the motor thereto.-

9. Ina dry house having a clothes :drying rack removable therefrom, aseries of drying air, directing conduits constructed and arrangedto'direct -a1r currents through different portions of said rack andvhaving:shut:

tersfor blocking thepassage of drying air is within the dry houseso'that with the removal vof the rack from thendry 'housesaid shutterswill be blown shut by the air 'current. r

$11. The combination of a'dry househaving a clothes dryingrack removabletherefrom and a series offidrying air directing conduits constructedandarranged to direct air currentsfthrough different portions of saiddrying rack and each-having a shutter mov able into the path of aninwardly directed air current, means connected with said drying rack forholding said shutters open when the rack is within the dry house so thatwith the removal of the rack from the dry house said shutters willbeblown shut in sequence by the air current.

HENRY'J. ERNST.

therethrough, and said clothes drying rack said shutters as to open thesaine with the --C0mpleteinsertion of said rack within said dry houseandto'close the samewith the'with- I drawal of'saidrack from said dryhouse.

10. The combination of a dry house having v a clothes'drying'rack'removable therefrom and a series ofdrying air directingconduits constructed and arranged to direct air currents throughdifferent portions-of said drying" rack and each ha'ving ashuttermovable into the path of an inwardly directed air current, means"connected with said drying; rack having means so arranged with relationto

